Hip-Hop Without a Border…

Now this is the story all about how
Our trip got flipped, turned upside down
And We’d like to blog so read right here,

We’ll tell you how we explored the Russian air.

It was 7:30PM and the BRIC kids were hungry! we were walking down the grand ol’ Nevsky Prospect, we caught a glimpse of a young and trendy restaurant, The Marketplace; surely enough, it became our go-to spot on the regular. Not only did we taste delicious food and spent time as a group together, we also entertained ourselves in such a way we did not expect! Rap, a vocal form of self-expression, was something that we did not expect in the middle of the streets of St. Petersburg. However, little did we know that one of our own BRIC-mates, Jason Farahnik, was also a talented rapper who would perform for a large audience!

As we were walking out of The Marketplace with a sense of fulfillment from the meal, we heard a loud noise of hip-hop beats and audience claps further down the block. Perhaps by our sheer curiosity or taste for music, we all decided to walk down to listen in. It was there that we noticed a young Russian artist nodding his head to music beats exploding from his scruffy old boom box. From techno beats to old school 90’s classics, this guy had it all. After 5 minutes, we noticed Jason slowly walking near the rapper. Jason lowered his head down as he slowly put on his beanie hat with a steady vibe to the beat. He gave the rapper a nod which meant that he wanted to get into the rap. Jason took control of the music with his catchy verses and rhythmic moves. The BRIC students shouted with excitement. BABSON!! GO JASON!! We shouted as he rapped on. A sense of unity was confronted between Jason and the rapper and they spoke the language of Hip-Hop. Although one rapped in Russian and other in English, rapping has neither language nor a border. Music is synonymous for any beat is from the heart and any word creates a flow.

This experience goes to show how similar humans are although we have different cultures. From social, economic, and political differences between USA and Russia, this rap collaboration between Jason and the local Russian artist goes to show how we can work together with listening ears. We all have forms of expressions that may be different due to our culture, however, if we take time to hear what people need to say and respect their opinions, change can happen – we just need one mic.